Mindful Parenting: Conscious Action, Acceptance, and Living Out of the Comfort Zone

1. Mindful Parenting: Conscious Action, Acceptance, and Living Out of the Comfort Zone Carlos E. Rivera Villegas, B.S. a, Lisa W. Coyne, Ph.D. a b, Marie-Christine André, M.A. a, Sara E. Shea, Ph.D. c a Suffolk University, b Harvard Medical School/ McLean Hospital, c Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA

2. Existing Research • Externalizing problems are among the most frequent reasons for intervention in children. • Exposure to problematic parenting is among the most well established risk variables leading to externalizing problems in children. • Experiential Avoidance (EA) has been associated with problematic parenting. (Dadds, 1995; Dadds, Maujean, & Fraser, 2003; Shea & Coyne, 2011; Webster-Stratton, 1990)

3. Existing Research • Parental psychological well-being is one protective factor for competent parenting. • Mindfulness has been related to positive parenting practices. (Webster-Stratton, 1990; Duncan, Coatsworth, & Greenberg, 2009)

4. Mindful Parenting • Bringing the qualities of present-centered attention and awareness, low reactivity, and an open accepting attitude to one’s parenting thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. (Duncan, Coatsworth, & Greenberg, 2009)

5. Study’s Aim • Explore the relationship between children’s externalizing behavior, inconsistent and punitive parenting practices, EA, and mindful parenting qualities of observing, describing, acting with awareness, and accepting without judgment.

6. Hypotheses • Higher levels of reported child externalizing problems would be associated with higher levels of punitive and inconsistent parenting, as well as maternal EA. • Mothers who report greater awareness of their actions and acceptance without judgment would report less inconsistent and punitive parenting practices, and lower levels of child externalizing behaviors. • Those mothers who report acting with awareness and accepting without judgment tend to engage less in experiential avoidance. • We expected that higher levels of aware action and non-judgmental acceptance, coupled with lower levels of maternal EA, would significantly predict lower levels of inconsistent and punitive parenting, as well as child externalizing behavior.

7. Participants • Selected sample from an existing study on emotional development (Shea & Coyne, 2011) • 144 ethnically diverse, at-risk mothers (Age M = 32.01; SD= 8.03) of preschoolers from Head Starts and public preschool programs in an urban Northeastern city

8. Participants

9. Measures • Demographics questionnaire • Mindfulness: Kentucky Inventory of Mindfulness Skills (KIMS; Baer, Smith, & Cochran, 2004) • Observe: Range = 13 – 57; M = 34.71; SD = 9.27; α = .85 • Describe: Range = 12 – 40; M = 29.95; SD = 5.90; α = .81 • Act With Awareness: Range = 12 – 43; M = 30.71; SD = 5.19; α = .69 • Accept Without Judgment: Range = 17 – 45; M = 33.77; SD = 5.88; α = .79 • Experiential Avoidance: Acceptance & Action Questionnaire (AAQ; Hayes et al., 2004); Range = 29 – 92; M = 63.99; SD = 12.61, α = .67 • Parenting Practices: Alabama Parenting Questionnaire – Preschool Revision (Clerkin, Marks, Policaro, & Halperin, 2007) • Inconsistent Parenting: Range = 7 – 30; M = 13.20; SD = 4.48; α = .75 • Punitive Parenting: Range = 5 – 25; M = 7.53; SD = 2.79; α = .78 • Child Externalizing Behavioral Problems: Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL 1½-5; Achenbach & Rescorla, 2000) • Externalizing Problems T-Scores: Range = 28 – 82; M = 45.28; SD = 10.72; α = .92

10. Statistical Procedures • Transformation for outcome variables • Inconsistent parenting, punitive parenting, and child externalizing behavior • Remove ambiguous item in KIMS • Missing values less than 5% • Correlations among all variables • Stepwise Multiple Regressions for each outcome variable

11. Results • Table 1. Correlation between Maternal Measures (N= 144)

12. Results • Table 1. Correlation between Maternal Measures (N= 144)

13. Results • Table 1. Correlation between Maternal Measures (N= 144)

14. Results • Table 1. Correlation between Maternal Measures (N= 144)

15. Results Figure 1.Stepwise backward regressions predicting Inconsistent Parenting Practices (N= 144) • As a whole, mothers’ acceptance without judgment (β = -.26, t = -2.64, p < .01), observing (β = -.25, t = -2.86, p < .01) , and EA (β = .23, t = 2.47, p < .05) significantly predicted 19% of the total variance in inconsistent parenting behavior, F (3, 132) = 10.36, p < .001.

16. Results Figure 1.Stepwise backward regressions predicting Punitive Parenting Practices (N= 144) Accepting without judgment (β = -.27, t = -3.08, p < .01) and acting with awareness (β = -.17, t = -1.93, p = .06) predicted 14% of the total variance in punitive parenting behavior, F (2, 133) = 11.12, p < .001.

17. Results Figure 1.Stepwise backward regressions predicting Child Externalizing Behavior (N= 144) • Accepting without judgment (β = -.27, t = -2.90, p < .01) and EA (β = .16, t = 1.75, p = .08) predicted 14% of the total variance in child externalizing behavior, F (2, 132) = 10.35, p < .001.

18. Discussion • Programs may capitalize in training parents on building observation skills, non-judgmental acceptance, and staying present in situations that might be unpleasant, in order to minimize inconsistent parenting practices. • Non-judgmental acceptance and aware action may be important factors in explaining punitive parenting behavior. • Increasing mother’s non-judgmental acceptance and their ability to stay present might also decrease externalizing problems in their children.

19. Strengths, Limitations, & Future Directions • Strength: Large, diverse, and at risk sample • Study limited to cross-sectional and correlational analyses • Only used self-reports • Sample only made up of mothers • Future studies should conduct experimental longitudinal designs, use measurement instruments beyond self-reports, and assess fathers

20. “Be the person you want your children to remember”

21. Questions, Comments, Feedback

22. References Achenbach, T. M., & Rescorla, L. (2000). Child Behavior Checklist for Ages 1½-5 (CBCL/1½-5) Manual for the ASEBA preschool forms & profiles. Library of Congress 00-131596. Baer, R. A., Smith, G. T., & Allen, K. B. (2004). Assessment of mindfulness by self-report the Kentucky inventory of mindfulness skills. Assessment, 11(3), 191-206. Dadds, M. R. (1995). Families, children, and the development of dysfunction. Thousand Oaks, CA US: Sage Publications, Inc.. Dadds, M. R., Maujean, A., & Fraser, J. A. (2003). Parenting and conduct problems in children: Australian data and psychometric properties of the Alabama Parenting Questionnaire. Australian Psychologist, 38(3), 238-241. Duncan, L. G., Coatsworth, J. D., & Greenberg, M. T. (2009). A model of mindful parenting: Implications for parent–child relationships and prevention research. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 12(3), 255-270. Gratz, K. L., & Roemer, L. (2004). Multidimensional assessment of emotion regulation and dysregulation: Development, factor structure, and initial validation of the difficulties in emotion regulation scale. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 26(1), 41-54.

23. References Hayes, S. C., Strosahl, K. D., & Wilson, K. G. (1999). Acceptance and commitment therapy: An experiential approach to behavior change. Guilford Press. Hayes, S. C., Strosahl, K. D., Wilson, K. G., Bissett, R. T., Pistorello, J., Toarmino, D., ... & McCurry, S. M. (2004). Measuring experiential avoidance: A preliminary test of a working model. The psychological record, 54(4), 553-578. Shea, S. E., & Coyne, L. W. (2011). Maternal dysphoric mood, stress, and parenting practices in mothers of Head Start preschoolers: The role of experiential avoidance. Child & Family Behavior Therapy, 33(3), 231-247. Shelton, K. K., Frick, P. J., & Wootton, J. (1996). Assessment of parenting practices in families of elementary school-age children. Journal of clinical child psychology, 25(3), 317-329. Webster-Stratton, C. (1990). Stress: A potential disruptor of parent perceptions and family interactions. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 19(4), 302-312.

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